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Tuesday, December 23

Ok I know. This is a bit off the wall and a bit out of the way. But I'm helping out a friend here with a new website for her hearing aid business here in Cuenca Ecuador. They are a hardworking family and I have appreciated being able to get to know them.

Mellinger: Is there part of you that is bothered by the aggressive atheism of a [Sam] Harris, a [Christopher] Hitchens, a [Richard] Dawkins? And what I mean is... this atheism is a little different than atheism has been in the past because it does seek to convert people.

Daniels: I'm not sure it's all that new. People who reject the idea of a God -who think that we're just accidental protoplasm- have always been with us. What bothers me is the implications -which not all such folks have thought through- because really, if we are just accidental, if this life is all there is, if there is no eternal standard of right and wrong, then all that matters is power.And atheism leads to brutality. All the horrific crimes of the last century were committed by atheists -Stalin and Hitler and Mao and so forth- because it flows very naturally from an idea that there is no judgment and there is nothing other than the brief time we spend on this Earth.Everyone's certainly entitled in our country to equal treatment regardless of their opinion. But yes, I think that folks who believe they've come to that opinion ought to think very carefully, first of all, about how different it is from the American tradition; how it leads to a very different set of outcomes in the real world.

Find your Menomonie Strawberries. We have worked at Red Cedar Valley Farms for many years and always have enjoyed and appreciated the farm and the great strawberries they produce in Menomonie. The season starts this Saturday, so make sure you stock up for the winter!

Tuesday, June 8

Yet on every question the left did much worse. On the monopoly question, the portion of progressive/very liberals answering incorrectly (31%) was more than twice that of conservatives (13%) and more than four times that of libertarians (7%). On the question about living standards, the portion of progressive/very liberals answering incorrectly (61%) was more than four times that of conservatives (13%) and almost three times that of libertarians (21%).

Thursday, May 13

Really we are sheep being led off to the slaughter. Everyone else looks at our generation and laughs. It's not that we are some sort of Woodstock generation. Indeed in many ways we have a responsible attitude when it comes to the world. But we have been used.

Go back to the back to 2008. During the time I was living in Madison Wisconsin in the middle of thousands of kids my age or just a bit younger. Everyone was tripping over themselves trying to support Obama. In fact it was so accepted that everyone was an Obama fan that it wasn't even controversial. If you wanted to be a lefty radical you had to support Cynthia McKinney for President. (You know the one that hit the Capital Police).

Now take a look at where we are at today. What did my generation get for its mass support of Obama? Well we got Obamacare. Like that works well for us. One of the key features of the bill was an individual mandate--forcing younger and healthier workers to pay for older citizens who normally have health issues. AARP and other groups successfully lobbied not only that everyone be forced to get insurance but that that insurers can only charge older less healthy people three times as much. The CBO readily admits that this rate forces the young to subsidize the older, less healthy individuals. And that is on top of the Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security liability younger workers must foot. (More on that in a bit).

Next we got the bailouts. And we paid for it with more debt. Everyone agrees that the current debt load in unsustainable. When we have to go the way of Greece and start paying for that debt with less services and or higher taxes it will be my generation that foots the bill.

Oh, and remember, those bailouts were suppose to help the economy and keep unemployment low. Guess what? Unemployment while terrible over-all is the some of the worst among the young. We didn't benefit when the gov't guarded those 401K plans but right now the unemployment rate among 20-24 year-olds stands at around 16%.

I'm not wanting another hand-out or more paid 'volunteers' at Americops. Can someone just stop the stealing and mismanagement?

Tuesday, May 11

First is her judicial philosophy. Does she agree with the Constitution? What standard does she use to understand this foundation of our government? Is she inclined to find penumbra (shadow) rights within the document? Does she try and understand the real and literal meaning of those who created it? These are legitimate questions of a justice. How well does she show that she is no respecter of people, only the law.

Second, does she have the judicial temperament and ability to fill the role? Does she have the the knowledge and ability to parse exceedingly complex concepts and come to a just and equitable conclusion without any bias? A big part of this process is her interaction with the rest of the court. Even if she does not agree with them, can there be a level of respect for her from her fellow justices and those that come before her? Interestingly, that is the question that was asked by the left-leaning Salon magazine. They found Kagan to be sorely lacking in the ability to interact and persuade the Supreme Court in her appearances before it. It will be important for her to answer questions about how she can relate and persuade.

Other concerns include her treatment of the law in the past. Harvard Law under her direction kept the Military off of their campus in spite of laws to the contrary because they disagreed with their position on homosexuals in the military. And now she is suppose to be someone who upholds the law? She should answer for her time at Harvard.

I have not been sold on the whole Global Warming deal, but if I were, Bill Gates and his cloud ships would be a great first thing to look at. After all, it is much cheaper than many of the extremely expensive energy taxes proposed by the left.

Bill Gates, the Microsoft billionaire, is funding research into machines to suck up ten tonnes of seawater every second and spray it upwards. This would seed vast banks of white clouds to reflect the Sun’s rays away from Earth.The British and American scientists involved do not intend to wait for international rules on technology that deliberately alters the climate. They believe that the weak outcome of December’s climate summit in Copenhagen means that emissions will continue to rise unchecked and that the world urgently needs an alternative strategy to protect itself from global warming.Many methods of cooling the planet, collectively known as geoengineering, have been proposed. They include rockets to deploy millions of mirrors in the stratosphere and artificial trees to suck carbon dioxide from the air. Most would be prohibitively expensive and could not be deployed for decades.However, a study last year calculated that a fleet of 1,900 ships costing £5 billion could arrest the rise in temperature by criss-crossing the oceans and spraying seawater from tall funnels to whiten clouds and increase their reflectivity.

Tuesday, May 4

Have you seen the ability to use your facebook login to comment? I saw it on the CNN site the other day. This will be the wave of the future, since most users already have a facebook account and don't want to create a new account simply to post a comment. Lower the threshold and you will get much more interaction. I found I can even implement facebook comments with Joomla. The hitch? Right now the system is a bit fat. Pages take a bit long to load.

Most people my age hate any money that is paper. Checks? You have to actually write out the amount you want to spend, and then balance a checkbook? And bills are only in possession in a straight line from ATM to merchant. But you still need the paper for small time purchases like farmers markets, donating to a candidate for a fundraiser or tithing at church. Not anymore. Check out squareus.com. They enable even a chalk painter in New York to swipe plastic and get a donation with an iPhone. Next up: persuade my churchwe need to strap a square enable iPhone to the offering plate.

Tuesday, April 27

A case study of the Brown campaign’s social media presence by Word Stream, a search engine marketing company, actually identified Brown’s momentum before polling or the political class did. Their final count found he had a ten to one advantage in web traffic, ten to one in YouTube views, three to one in Twitter followers, and four to one in Facebook followers.

Perry proclaimed himself a “gadget guy” to a group of Austin technologists over a beer at the Chili Parlor. “It’s a very normal thing for me in my life to be using a GPS when they first came out, and LORAN before that,” referring to the radio-based navigation system that was a precursor of the modern GPS.

His staff says he often surprises people when they see him tweeting on his mobile phone. “Governor Perry has made [technology] a priority in his everyday life. It’s because he can change the way he interacts with the people of Texas,” says Will Franklin, director of new media for the campaign.

Monday, April 12

Congress—both chambers with Democratic majorities—responded by just saying "no." No to the whole New Deal revival: no federal program for health care, no full-employment act, only limited federal housing, and no increase in minimum wage or Social Security benefits.

Instead, Congress reduced taxes. Income tax rates were cut across the board. FDR's top marginal rate, 94% on all income over $200,000, was cut to 86.45%. The lowest rate was cut to 19% from 23%, and with a change in the amount of income exempt from taxation an estimated 12 million Americans were eliminated from the tax rolls entirely.

Corporate tax rates were trimmed and FDR's "excess profits" tax was repealed, which meant that top marginal corporate tax rates effectively went to 38% from 90% after 1945.

Georgia Sen. Walter George, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, defended the Revenue Act of 1945 with arguments that today we would call "supply-side economics." If the tax bill "has the effect which it is hoped it will have," George said, "it will so stimulate the expansion of business as to bring in a greater total revenue."

He was prophetic. By the late 1940s, a revived economy was generating more annual federal revenue than the U.S. had received during the war years, when tax rates were higher. Price controls from the war were also eliminated by the end of 1946. The U.S. began running budget surpluses.

Monday, February 8

What would it be like if band-aids were too expensive? What if the cost of our band-aid insurance had risen dramatically in the last few years? And that the cost of band-aid insurance was sapping wag increases? How should the government respond?

1. Obama Sheer StyleAs in the sheer audacity of government take over. We could push for government band-aids to be sold next to the Johnson and Johnson brand at Wal-Mart. But since government can legislate everything from the cost of the petroleum to the cost of labor put into the band-aids and the advertisement J&J can run the result would most likely turn quickly into a government take over while the full cost of band-aids continued to rise. And don't forget that there would be band-aids for abortion, and a mandate that every American carry at least one band-aid in their wallet or purse or risk being fined.

2. Letting 3M and Sam Walton innovation workIf the comparison is between band-aids and health care/health insurance each band-aid would have to be sold in the state it was made in. No selling over state lines. Worse, the government would already be involved in half of the band-aids sold the poor while only paying the manufacturers 40% what it cost to make them with the difference being made up by every other American. Don't forget that the very stickiness of the bandage would be litigated into million dollar settlements by lawyers adding additional costs to those band-aids. Not that you would actually know the cost of those band-aids before you buy them. Cut your hand and must run to the store to stop the bleeding? Both Wal-Mart, Kmart and your local drugstore would all have the bandaid, but they would be unable/unwilling to tell you how much it cost until they send you a bill in the mail six months after swipe the plastic to wrap your oozing finger in protective sheer.

Is it clear yet why your health insurance and healthcare are through the roof? If band-aids were sold as healthcare is now sold, I could guarantee you they would be irrationally expensive and complicated. 3M and Sam Walton innovation are left to work and bring down band-aid prices, there is no reason why our healthcare could not be brought some of the same reform.

No comment on the ad, but this car is totally on my dream list. Not because it is "green" but because it drives like a sports car and sips gas like a compact with room enough for your camping trip. If only it would be easier on the wallet. :(

Of course cutting the minimum wage might not be popular, but it is very likely good economic policy especially in a recession. Labor like any freely traded commodity is subject to the laws of supply and demand. Right now there is a significantly weak demand for work and a large supply of people wanting it. What should happen? The price of labor (wages) should decrease. At one level we understand this: those multi-millionaire CEO should get a cut we all agree. But what about the rest of the workers? If a company had a choice between cutting a third of its workforce or cutting the wages by a third, would you rather be working for a third as much or not working at all?

Interestingly, during one of the hardest depressions the United States ever faced during the 1920-1921 wages were allowed to fluctuate with the state of the economy. Although wages fell substantially along with the stock market and the rest of the economy, unemployment was quickly (in around a year!) brought under control, and wages too quickly recovered. Indeed, probably the best synopsis of this success was written by none other than Ben Bernanke. On how bad it was:

"In one crucial respect, the depression of 1920-21 was actually more severe than the Great Depression itself: there was a rapid decline in the price level of between forty and fifty percent within the course of a single year."

On how employment reacted:

"Employment and output were however not as severely affected as in the Great Depression. Of course precise unemployment data are not available for this period, but one representative estimate (Lebergott, 1957) puts civilian unemployment at 2.3% in 1919, 11.9% in 1921, and back to 3.2% in 1923."

The reason? Wage flexibility:

"As these stylized facts indicate, the second unusual feature of the depression of 1920-21 was the rapid recovery in employment and output, in sync with a swift adjustment of the real wage to its new equilibrium position."

One of the unique differences between the depression of 1920 and 1929 was that wages were not allowed by the government to fluctuate in 1929 like they had in 1920. The result was that the depression of 1920 was over in a year (unemployment was at 3.2% in 1923!). While the 1929 depression lasted for over a decade with unemployment rates of over 10% until the 1940s!

Now, remember those confusing employment numbers from January. How the unemployment rate fell but the job loss continued? The main reason this was possible is because of the increasing number of people who are self-employed according to reports. Self-employed people still respond to the actual market for labor much more closely than labor protected by union and government imposed wage restrictions. The result is that despite the government's attempt to continue to bungle the economy by keeping wages high, there remains enough freedom through avenues like self-employment for wages to fluctuate enough for the economy to recover.

To let the economy (and jobs especially) recover faster we must let wages be flexible.

Tuesday, February 2

"We want to help clarify that projects may be carried out in association with religious organizations, so long as project activities do not involve religious advocacy or proselytizing – acts and intentions to advance a religious denomination or expand membership or encourage conversion: http://www.facebook.com/l/40867;www.refresheverything.com/official-application-guidelines."

Hope Gospel Mission is still a problem. They see a change of heart part of the solution instead of simply putting a band-aid on the physical. Again, I say let the voters--those who drink pepsi--decide if the cause merits the grant rather than getting pepsi mixed up in the middle. I wonder why they don't avoid politics too...

In the virtual world of Second Life, there has been some work done to set up churches. Mark Brown (former head of the New Zealand Bible Society) was one of the founders and pastors of this Anglican Church. Nothing can compare with actual real life church, but just as we used to have bible studies by correspondence this is an area that missions should be exploring. Take a look at this video from their Easter Service:

Also of note is the Bible Facebook page that simply posts and discusses portions of the Bible (again started by Mark Brown) It now has over 1.4 million fans. Incredible.

The only other substantive qualifications deal with age, operating within the United States and that the project can be done on time. There is not even any of the classic concern about discrimination on the basis of race, origin, etc. That could have been more acceptable but then again, what if I want help Boy Scouts go camping? That would discriminate against girls. But if I want to help out the homeless with biblical principles of honesty and hard work--nope.

No, the best thing for Pepsi to do, is to ax the discrimination completely. They already are asking their customers to vote, why can't they decide as well if they want to support the Salvation Army or World Vision if they want to?

Go to Pepsi refresh now and comment on their wall. If social media works, we can show how this hurts some of our most valuable nonprofits.

Monday, February 1

A study (funded by the gov't no less) found that abstinence education worked better than comprehensive education. The scientific evidence:

Over the next two years, about 33 percent of the students who went through the abstinence program started having sex, compared to about 52 percent who were just taught safe sex. About 42 percent of the students who went through the comprehensive program started having sex, and about 47 percent of those who just learned about other ways to be healthy. The abstinence program had no negative effects on condom use, which has been a major criticism of the abstinence approach.

Question: does this mean Obama and the left will now support science or their own agenda?

Saturday, January 30

Patrick Ruffini who ehlped out Scott Brown has his analysis of what drove the impressive $12 million online haul. Best quote:

Lesson: Blogs are still important online in driving a narrative and contributions, probably moreso than Facebook and Twitter, though I believe the latter can serve as an important signaling mechanism for bloggers and media to pick the story up and run with it. And it should be no surprise that once a story like this gets into traditional media, the impact can be magnified many-fold.

Thursday, January 28

If he didn't have a reason to run before, this should cover the last objection to Tommy entering the race against Feingold: Rasmussen has Tommy Thompson beating Feingold 47 to 43%. Also interestingly, more people have an unfavorable opinion of Feingold than favorable (48 to 47%). This confirms what I said here over a month ago that with the drop in favorability and job approval Feingold should be very vulnerable. Run Tommy run!

Tuesday, January 26

This is the best deal I have found on webhosting. The ad says $66/year but the link will take you to a coupon where you can get hosting for only $44/year! That is unlimited space, bandwidth, email addresses, etc. plus amazing chat support. I can only say that I have been pleased with fatcow and I have been using them for over a year now. If you are a frustrated GoDaddy customer, now is the time to cut the chain. In fact, if you use the affiliate link below for fatcow, I will even help you move any simple website you have over to fatcow for free!

If you have two kitty litter boxes for one cat, you would save time and money by eliminating redudency and switching to one. Sen. Tom Coburn was a smart idea to apply this to government:

The Senate is debating a $1.9 trillion increase in the nation's debt limit that would lift Treasury's legal borrowing ceiling to $14.3 trillion. After a $290 billion debt-limit raise last month, this giant new increase is intended to get Democrats past November's election without another reminder to voters of how much debt their spending is piling up.

Mr. Coburn has a better idea: Cut spending to a level that would allow the government to stay beneath the current debt ceiling for a few more months. President Obama promised in his campaign to eliminate "unnecessary redundancy" in government, so Mr. Coburn is calling for at least $20 billion in spending cuts on programs that are duplicated across federal agencies. That's about 4% of nondefense discretionary spending, and Mr. Coburn's amendment identifies at least 640 programs that could be consolidated.

A few examples: A 2009 Government Accountability Office report found 69 early education programs, administered by nine different agencies. A 2003 GAO report found 44 job training programs, also administered by nine agencies. The Department of Education runs 14 separate programs for foreign study exchanges. Taxpayers spend more than $300 million annually on at least nine Agriculture Department programs to develop biofuels. Too bad we can't pay for all this with wood chips.

Saturday, January 23

For the first time ever there are more government jobs than manufacturing jobs in the state. This is sad. Since most government jobs come at the expense of private sector jobs (how many things have you seen gov't do more efficiently?) this not only shows how much manufacturing has tanked but how the phantom of recovery the liberals preach.

And he wants to make Virginia the easiest state in America in which to open a business by allowing currently licensed businesses to operate new ventures under the license they already have while waiting for a new one to be processed, ensure that new businesses can get approvals complete in 48 hours and waive fees for veterans starting a business.

As we all know, it is efficient businesses that create jobs. This sounds like a no-brainer to me. Let`s make Virginia the second easiest place to open a business.

2. McConnell wants to drill for oil and national gas offshore. Wisconsin does not have that option. However, Wisconsin could utilize resources like forests on national parks in a responsible manner in the same way. Even better, Wisconsin has to find a way to decrease the price of energy and gasoline in the state. High energy is a huge drag on the economy.

And take note: the first idea does not need one more dollar of state spending to make it happen. 0$

A divided U.S. Supreme Court struck down decades-old restrictions on corporate campaign spending, reversing two of its precedents and freeing companies to conduct advertising campaigns that explicitly try to sway voters.

The 5-4 ruling went beyond the circumstances in the case before the justices, a dispute over a documentary film attacking then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The majority, invoking the Constitution’s free-speech clause, said the government lacks a legitimate basis to restrict independent campaign expenditures by companies.

“The government may regulate corporate political speech through disclaimer and disclosure requirements, but it may not suppress that speech altogether,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority.

While Mass. voted for change away from Obamamania, some brave people in California are working tirelessly to preserve marriage and freedom of religion. The Alliance Defense Fund is in the middle of the fight even as the state of California fails to support their own constitution. The Alliance Defense Fund has the updates right from the courtroom.

Some of the most telling points:

The judge tried to broadcast the testimony on TV and needed the Supreme Court to step in and put it in line (not surprising from a San Fransisco judge I guess). The Constitutional opponents have been downright ruthlessly hateful in their response to supporters of the amendment threatening professional and financial ruin for those who supported this position. Partly because of these threats the Supreme Court required the witness testimony to be kept off TV.

Testimony by those against traditional marriage have been forced to concede that a children are best raised in a traditional, stable, Mom and Dad family. I think the powerful evidence of the positive influence that BOTH a Mom and Dad have is not surprising, but enlightening in a nation of high divorce and increased disrespect shown toward traditional families.

Wednesday, January 20

Here are some excellent steps that both Republicans and Democrats could do to better health care. Initiatives with wide bipartisan support.

1.Allow individual tax-deductions for premiums. Individuals who don’t get that deduction currently would be encouraged to obtain health insurance.The poorer would be no worse or better off.The middle-class uninsured would be on equal terms to those receiving employer-paid benefits.

2.Broaden IRS Section 125 to allow individuals to use pre-tax income for health careexpenses.Eliminate the current “use-it-or-lose-it” provision so such savings can accumulate toward catastrophic needs, Part D Medicare Rx “donut-hole” expenses, professional long-term care for loss of two or more of the currently defined “activities of daily living”, or other IRS Section 213 (the Section that lists allowed professional medical treatments) retirement medical care. Section 213 would be broadened to include Over-The-Counter medications, if prescribed by a doctor or dentist.Again, the middle-class would be benefitted who aren’t employed and provided Section 125 plans or employed and not offered employer Section 125 plans.Current health savings accounts, HRA’s and HAS’s, would remain the same, and be immediately vested if funded.

Wednesday, January 13

"I'm thinking about that and we're going to be getting together as a caucus next week and the topic will come up. I have not decided whether these comments merit that or not. They're very unfortunate. They should have never been said. So, I need to think about it," Feingold said.

If this succeeds or not This has got to work. I can't see how an internet sensitive campaign like this one could go wrong. Remember, this is the same company that had some bad apple employee post a disgusting video that blew up in their face.